Welcome to the Third Year Blog!
Here in the Third Year blog’s air-conditioned, deeply carpeted, beautifully appointed office at the very highest point of the School (both literally and figuratively) we are still reeling from last night’s Third Year Prizegiving evening. As always, it was an incredibly uplifting event. The sheer scale and breadth of what the boys have done during the course of the year is brought into sharp focus and is celebrated in a wonderful way. The musical performances were absolutely sensational and the spirit of the School shone through.
The only trouble with it is that it does not, and can never, fully capture all the achievements of the boys, big and small, through the year. It is tempting to imagine another additional awards ceremony celebrating an even wider array of things that the Third Years have done. Which Third Year has eaten the most pieces of garlic bread at lunch? Who has scored the most goals while on the 3G? Who has forgotten their exercise book the fewest times? There is a serious point here, which is that there are dozens and dozens of pupils who did not win a prize last night but who absolutely deserve one for the way they have carried themselves and developed as individuals as the year has progressed. Of course, the Third Year blog is biased, but in our experience, each and every boy deserves to be recognised for the sense of community, fun and industriousness that permeates the School.
This is part of what the Third Year blog looks to represent and there is no change in that this week… We have reports from the cricket squad, a view of the School Rock Concert, a range of perspectives on the Creative Careers afternoon that was held this week. There is also an update on the race for the Interform Cup with just one event left. School may finish next week, but there is still a sense of accelerating towards the finish line!
Heads of Year Message
With just one week left of this academic year, we really enjoyed celebrating the achievements of this cohort of Third Years at our Prizegiving event on Thursday evening. It is impossible for us to recognise every achievement or worthy act with a prize, and we are well aware how many pupils deserve recognition across a wide range of academic and co-curricular achievements throughout the year. Please rest assured that these achievements are recognised and valued by teachers at each and every performance, sports fixture, grade card or event – even if a prize was not forthcoming on this occasion.
As well the Founders’ Day Assembly on Tuesday next week, there will be a Mufti Day on Friday (last day of term) to raise funds towards Form Charity.
Notice re laptops (this notice has been relayed to Third Years via their Form Tutors):
Pupils and parents should be aware that the School’s network filters monitor all devices for inappropriate language, inappropriate content or concerning behaviour. The new school laptops are subject to the school’s network filters for online activity at any time – i.e. searches made at home will be picked up by the school’s network filters on arrival at school. Pupils must recognise that the laptops are for school work only, in school and at home. Any activity that meets the threshold for concern will be followed up in school.
Absences
For medical absences, please notify your son’s Form Tutors via email (cc’ing absence@hamptonschool.org.uk) on the morning of each day of absence by 8:45am, or complete the absence form via the parent portal. For planned absences and appointments, please contact Heads of Year requesting the absence with as much notice as possible.
Boys, we hope you make the most of the last week of term. Please throw yourselves into the activities (including interform basketball) on offer and keep supporting one another with kindness right until the end of term. As always, do reach out to us or your Form Tutors if you are having any difficulties.
We hope you all have a lovely weekend in the sunshine!
Best wishes
Mr T Rigby & Miss M Bedford
U14A Cricket
After winning the toss, we went into bat and our openers quickly realised what a difficult wicket it was to bat on. An unlucky early wicket meant that we could have been in big trouble, but Adhrit P stepped up to the challenge and gave us hope, scoring a brilliant 72. After an excellent catch, Aadi K was dismissed, and Rohan V came to the crease. After a very unlucky wicket, Marcus S entered, scoring a brilliant 42 and forming a crucial partnership of 75 runs with Adhrit P bringing us back into the game. In the last few overs Freddie T scored an amazing 23 off 19, upping our run rate to bring us to an amazing 201/5.
An important opening spell by Joe P and Yuvraj S had the RGS openers worried with Marcus S taking a catch at extra cover to dismiss the opener. Tom B and Ollie W came into the attack, bowling brilliantly to dismiss their third and fourth batsman. Great catches by Rohan V and Yuvraj S and three excellent run outs by Tom B and Ollie W helped send a succession of RGS batsmen back to the pavilion. Akshat N debuted his spin in the last over, with RGS needing 37 runs with only two wickets remaining. With two excellent stumpings, the game was finished with RGS all out for 169 and a 32 run victory for Hampton.
By Yuvraj S (3F)
Summer Rock Concert
Last Friday, Daniel T and I were lucky enough to perform at the 2023 Summer Rock concert. It was full of amazing bands, soloists and many other performers.
The talent was incredible throughout the evening with some songs from bands such as Oasis, Metallica, Coldplay and Nirvana. Daniel and I were very nervous at first but once we got on stage, we saw the amazing and supportive audience who really bought this event to life.
Many thanks to Mr Ferrier and Ms Mattison and the rest of the music department for setting up such a fun and exciting concert. Thank you for the performers and everyone involved!
By William M and Daniel T (3J)
Take a look at some of the photos form the evening here.
Interform Update
THE WILLIAMS CUP!!
THIS is what you are all playing for.
A year of events; a year of high drama; a year of dreaming of the ultimate prize. And it all comes down to this. The final week. One more event.
But what of this week’s Chess competition? How did it affect the leaderboard? Were any chessboards dramatically overturned in triumph or frustration? How many points do you get if you don’t turn up? So many questions.
Chess results:
1st: 3F: 9 pts
2nd: 3B: 8 pts
Joint 3rd: 3D and 3E: 7 pts
4th: 3J: 6 pts
Joint 9th: 3A, 3C, 3G, 3H: 0pts
What does this dramatic set of results do for the overall table?
Well, 3A’s refusal to engage with chess, along with 3F’s chess excellence has led to a remarkably dramatic scenario leading into the final event – basketball – with just one point separating the two forms.
Overall standings:
1st: 3A: 62 pts
2nd: 3F: 61 pts
3rd: 3D: 58 pts
4th: 3G: 50 pts
5th: 3E: 48 pts
Joint 6th: 3H and 3J: 43 pts
8th: 3C: 41 pts
9th: 3B: 35 pts
Creative Careers Afternoon
On Wednesday, we welcomed nine experts who work in creative industries to School to speak to Third Year Hamptonians. The intention was to introduce them to some new career ideas and potentially open their eyes to the types of careers that are out there. This is all well and good, but what did the boys think?
I found the talk about journalism particularly interesting. The stories of a journalist were very different to what we would normally associate with a profession that includes a lot of writing. Another possible profession that interested me was the publishing sector. It seems like a stable and money-making sector and one that I had not considered before. Overall, I really enjoyed it and found it very informative. I learnt a lot about professions that I had not considered before and gave me a new outlook on careers. Agalyan S
I really enjoyed the talk from Miles Horn because he revealed some hidden details about songwriting that I have always wanted to know: especially the clip from Ed Sheeran comparing song writing to running a dirty tap: the water would be dirty at first and then run clean and you will always have dirty spots within that clean water. The architect talk showed me the wide range of jobs that are available in positions related to architecture as well as the flexibility around A Level requirements for getting a job in the field of architecture. Joshie H
I enjoyed the afternoon and I really enjoyed the architecture talk by Mrs Moore. I am considering architecture as a career choice. Freddie C
I found the careers event quite interesting, seeing all the different directions people were able to go in and succeed. Even though none of the careers were something that I might choose, I did like to explore these careers further as I still found it interesting to see what went on behind the scenes for all of these different diverse jobs. Matias S-M
I particularly liked Rob Andrew’s talk on virtual effects, as it gave an insightful view on the world of how virtual effects are used in movies, as well as kindling an ardour for creative areas in computer generated content. I also enjoyed Stephen Titherington’s talk on journalism, as it was quite interesting to know about the important things to consider when being a journalist. Jonathan N
I found Johnny Howard’s talk about his job was quite interesting. The talk by the festival organiser was a job I didn’t think even existed, and it made me think about what it would be like to do it for a living. I found the afternoon very enjoyable and thought-provoking. Arun S
I thought that it was interesting because it broke down jobs such as VFX artist so you could understand the processes behind it. The architecture talk was interesting and made me consider something that I hadn’t thought of. I thought it was a good afternoon because we don’t often hear about creative careers in the normal school day. Jasper E
I found the editor of movies interesting because it was something I had never thought about trying and didn’t know the job really existed. I enjoyed getting a better perspective on jobs. Gabriel G
I found the talk from the Head of PR at Penguin the most interesting. I hadn’t considered it as a job before, but now, I feel like it could be a good career. Harrison C
Find out more here.
Two truths and a lie
Last week, Miss Towler was the Third Year tutor offering dubious takes on ‘truth’. Which of these was the lie?:
- Miss Towler once broke the same arm twice in the same year
- Miss Towler used to work at London Zoo
- Miss Towler has scored more goals in hockey this year than games played
Miss Towler did work at London Zoo. Though I have no specifics of her role, I like to think that she was primarily feeding lions and curing ill penguins, as opposed to working in the finance department. Miss Towler, it seems, is essentially a hockey version of Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring more goals than she has played matches this season. It is unclear as to whether she has her own personalised goal celebration, though it sounds as if it would be worth committing some thought to that. What this means is that she has never broken the same arm twice in the same year, which would have been careless behaviour entirely at odds with Miss Towler’s approach to life.
This week, we have Ms Doncel-Cervantes lying at us.
- Ms Doncel-Cervantes taught English as a foreign language in a remote village at the foothills of the Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador
- Ms Doncel-Cervantes was once caught in a sandstorm in the middle of the night while camping in Death Valley and had to be evacuated by the Park Rangers
- Ms Doncel-Cervantes got stung multiple times by a smack of jellyfish far out in the coast of Sardinia on my honeymoon
Not only is Ms Doncel-Cervantes clearly a very well travelled teacher, she also knows that the collective noun for a group of jellyfish is a ‘smack’. Bravo.
Anyway, one of these things is not true. Which one?
CONNECTION CORNER
Well done to the everyone who had a go at last week’s Connection Corner. Big shout out to Hamptonians who correctly guessed that the answers were all Flowers, merits go to Archer J, Leander K-B, Jasper E, Max F, Felix B, Fraser K, Adam M, Oliver A, Albert S, Ben B, Johnny R, Daniel O’S and Joshua R.
We have reached that time, the final Connection Corner of the year! Hopefully it’s provided a bit of a challenge on the coach home every Friday night. Drum roll please:
Have a great weekend!
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